Burial-casket.



No. 812,945. PATENTED FEB. 20, 1906 J. H. MILLS. 'BURIAL GASKET.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.17,1905.

dZ/ ZJZYZLASI INVEN T OR.

B A T T ORA EV.

WITNESSES.-

Wa ren srarrzs PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH H. MILLS, OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO RICHMOND CASKET COMPANY, OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

BURlAL-CASKET.

Patented Feb. 20, 1906.

A fi ti fil d November 17,1905. Serial No. 287,780.

To all whont it Tmay concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. MILLs, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Richmond, in the county of Wayne, and in the State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Burial-Caskets, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description and when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof, will be found sufiiciently clear and explicit as to enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present invention relates to burialcaskets, and more particularly to the means I employ for connecting the top thereof to the casket-body; and my object, broadly speaking, is to provide means whereby the top or cover is practically self-adjusting and when adjusted will be automatically secured and at the same time allowing that it may be easily and quickly removed when desired.

More particularly, my object is to provide a burial-casket in which the upper edge of the body is provided with a groove or rabbet to receive therein the flange or edge of the lid and to provide catches for detachably securing the top in position and means for lifting the top after it has been released.

Another object is to provide means whereby the top may be inverted and again secured as before to reduce the height of the casket, whereby it may be packed in a comparatively small space for transportation or storage.

One exemplification of my invention is shown most clearly in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows an end elevation of my casket in its operative and normal position. Fig. 2 shows an end elevation of same, but showing the top invertedthat is, in position for shipment or storage. Fig. 3 shows a longitudinal section of my casket as taken on the lines X X of Figs. 1 and 2 and showing the casket in its normal condition. Fig. 4 shows a longitudinal sectional view of my casket, also taken on the lines X X of Figs. 1 and 2 and showing the top in its inverted position; and Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of a portion of the casket as taken on the line Y Y of Fig. 4.

Similar reference characters denote and refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the letter A denotes the bottom of the casket, the letters C and C denote the sides, and the letters D and D denote the ends of the casket, said parts A, C, C, D, and D collectively forming that which will hereinafter be termed the casket-body. The letter E denotes the top of the casket, which is entabulated, and it rises convergently upward in the usual manner, forming a relatively large concave interior space.

It should be understood that no claim is set up as to the shape or configuration of either the body or the top elements as such, for they may be .variously formed, and my invention may be conditioned in order to meet various styles of caskets or the like and even for other articles of manufacture.

Integral with and extending around the upper edge of the sides and ends of the body of the casket is a terminal mold, (designated by the numeral 1,) in the upper inner edge of which is formed an angular rabbet, which rabbet is clearly indicated in the drawings and which is the essential feature of this present invention. Extending out from the edge of the top E is a mold forming the flange 2, the outer portion of which is adapted to rest snugly in said rabbet of the mold 1 when the top is in either its normal or inverted positions, as is clearly indicated.

Secured to the center of each end of the top E are the lifts H and H, which are of the form of hooks, and their object is to provide finger-holds for finger-lifting the top.

From the above it is apparent that the top may be easily positioned, and it will be easily determined when the top is in place, as when the flange 2 has entered the rabbet of the mold 1 it must of necessitybe at the properlypositioned point, from which it may be lifted by the finger-lifts H and H.

Formed vertically in the center of each of the ends C and C of the casket-body and extending up through the mold 1 at that point is a channel in which operates the respective tongues 3 and 3, which tongues are secured at their lower portions by screws or the like, their upper portions being turned outwardly over the top of the mold 1 and being free to be moved laterally; but their resiliency is such as to cause them to normally contact with the flange 2 of the top. Inserted in the flange 2 and projecting outwardly horizontally and located at either end of the top and centrally thereofare the two pintles 4 and 4, which are adapted to impinge upon the respective tongues 3 and 3 as the top is being positioned. Said tongues are each provided with an aperture formed therethroughnear the upper ends to receive therein the projecting ends of the respective pintles at such times as when the flange of the top is resting in said rabbet. From an inspection of the drawings it will be seen that the shape of said tongues, the location of the apertures therein, and the positions of the pintles are such that when the top is placed in connection with the body, either in its normal or in its inverted position, the pintles will engage the apertures in the tongues, and thereby secure the top in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 3 or in the position shown in Figs. 2, 4, and 5. Desiring now to remove the top, I have only to operate at either end of the casket, springing out the upper end of the tongue 3 or the tongue 3, then raising slightly that end of the top by means of the finger-lift H or the finger lift H, and then drawing the top slightly to release the catch at the opposite end, after which the lid may be easily removed in the usual manner.

I-Ieretofore it has been customary to have the line of division between the top and the body as between the mold 1 or the upper edge of the body of the casket and the flange 2 or the lower edge of the top, in that instance the mold 1 being a part of the top, in which instance great difficulty is ex erienced in positioning the top whereby its ange will project equally at all points in the circumference of the top; but in this invention the mold 1 is a part of the upper edge of the body of the casket, with an angular-shaped rabbet formed in the upper inner portion of the mold 1, thereby forming an angular joint between the body and the top, which is less easily detected and will also be more secure, and thereby assuring the expeditious location of the top at its proper point, and also thereby requiring less secure means for holding the top in place, as all end or side thrust of the lid is compensated for by the angular joint rather than by the securing means.

It of course should be understood that my invention is applicable to various styles of caskets and even to other articles of manufacture without departing from the spirit of the invention which is claimed as new, and various modifications may be made therein in order to meet varying conditions.

Having now fully shown and described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1 A burial-casket comprising in combination the body and the top, the former having an angular rabbet formed in its upper portion and the latter having a flange to rest in said rabbet when the top is in place in either its normal or its inverted position, and means for detachably securing the top to the body automatically in both positions, all substantially as set forth.

2. Aburial-casket having in combination a body and a top therefor, the body having a rabbet formed in its upper inner edge and the top having an outer flange portion adapted to enter and rest in said rabbet when the top is in place in either its normal or its inverted position, means whereby the top may be ifted independent of the body, and means for detachably securing the top to the body when the top is in either its normal or its inverted position, all substantially as set forth.

3. In combination with a casket having a removable top, means for detachably securing the top which means consists of verti- I cally-disposed perforated spring-tongues secured at their lower ends in channels therefor in the center of each end of the casket, pins extending out from each end of the top and adapted to register with and enter the perforations in the spring-tongues when the lid is in either its normal or inverted position, means whereby said spring-tongues may be released from the pins, and lifting-hooks secured to each end of the lid, all substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name to this specification in the presence of two. subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH H. MILLS.

Witnesses:

ORA F. WARD, ROBERT W. HANDLE. 

